Game and skills analysis Kentaro Miuchi (Japan)

The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!

Here comes Kentaro Miuchi (Japan):

Strengths:

• very good footwork
• very good and dynamic forehand topspin against pushes
• good backhand defending
• very consistent forehand counter topspin
• good forehand serves
• nice use of long pimples on forehand defending
• nice occasional twiddling of bat using backhand with pimples in to push with heavy backspin
• nice backhand topspin with pimples in on pushes

Weaknesses:

• forehand push not very consistent
• forehand defending with pimples in rather inconsistent
• return on serves from forehand side often too high
• backhand defending sometimes too high

Suggestions:

• practice greater variety of backhand serves
• forehand defending should be more consistent with pimples in
• forehand push should be more pricely placed all over the table and be more consistent.

Game and skills analysis Ri Myong Sun (Korea)

The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!

Here comes Ri Myong Sun (Korea):

Strengths:

• very good footwork
• consistent backhand and forehand chopping
• backhand pimples seem to generate heavy backspin on loaded topspins
• good and consistent forehand topspin though not often very fast
• very good forehand smash
• very good backhand serves with a lot of varieties
• nice changing of sides when placing pushes and chops making the opponent move round the table all the time.

Weaknesses:

• forehand chop occasionally going up too high
• forehand chop is choppy always, so very predictable
• she tends to push with the backup also too much from the forehand side such preventing herself from using forehand topspins or smashes to put pressure on the opponent
• not using the pimples very often to block and flip a push ball in order to break the rhythm of the attacker.

Suggestions:

• get greater variety of forehand serves
• try to get in with forehand topspins a little faster trying to win the point directy
• absolutely try to use the long pimples on the forehand when confronted with slow and spinny forehand topspins
• practice awkward flips/lifts with the pimples when attacker pushes ball back too often.
• practice counterspinning slow topspins into her forehand ideally with a lot of sidespin in order to break rhythm of attacker.
• practice “float” defending with forehand making the attacker unsure whether the chop that comes back has much or no backspin at all.

Game and skills analysis Li Xue (France)

The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!

Here comes Li Xue (France):

Strengths:

• very consistent backhand and forehand defending
• good but not excellent footwork
• good and consistent forehand topspin

Weaknesses:

• not a great variety of serves as far as you can tell from just one match (I did not find more at the moment)
• backhand defence very constistent but often not very choppy and occasionally going up too high

Suggestions:

• Practice greater variety of serves, get pimples that can produce heavier chop

Game and skills analysis Tetjana Bilenko (Ukraine)

The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!

Here comes Tetjana Bilenko (Ukraine):

Strengths:

• good but not tremdous footwork
• consistent defending with both forehand and backhand
• very choppy pushes on both sides making it difficult for opponent to come in with fast topspins
• good variety of unexpected and unusual forehand serves with different side and backspin normally into backhand side of opponent

Weaknesses:

• not counterattacking with forehand topspins often enough
• she is using pimples in on both sides with the disadvantage of being very vulnerable to short, slow but heavily “loaded” topspins
• missing the backhand smashes quite often against slow and high topspins into her backhand right after her serve
• taking heavy, slow topspins into her forehand too early/too high thus retrieving the ball too high or right off the table.

Suggestions:

• overall physical fitness could improve still a bit
• pratice taking the ball lower when confronted with slow and loaded topspins
• Consider using long pimps to overcome weakness of pips in or short pips
• practice greater variety of forehand serves